bet365 Football Betting Review

When it comes to football betting, few brands rival the size, success and prestige of Bet365. In less than two decades since being founded, Bet365 have grown to become undoubtedly one of the top dogs in the entire industry.

Although they were founded in the UK, bet365 have grown to become a truly international brand. Their customers – of which there are apparently over 22 million – hail from over 200 countries around the world. Despite this, they have made efforts to stay true to their roots. They have retained a definite British pedigree, being the single biggest employer in all of Stoke-on-Trent, and proudly refer to themselves as a ‘family-run business’.

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How To Bet on bet365

On visiting www.bet365.com potential new customers are taken to the bet 365 Home Page. Existing customers enter their unique combination of Username and Password. Visitors who are looking to open an account click ‘Join Now’. The new account process involves entering personal information, contact information, login and security details and preferences. There is a field for an optional Bonus Code related to an affiliates specific welcome offer. Once the account has been confirmed new customers must make an initial deposit before betting.

The current account balance is shown and a link called ‘Deposit’. Customers must specify the payment method and deposit amount and then click ‘Make Deposit’. The transfer is immediate which means there are funds available for betting. A sport, league, match and market is selected and when the current odds are selected a Bet Slip appears. Selections can be added to create multiple and system bets which are specified from a list. After entering the stake customers click ‘Place Bet’. Confirmation is virtually instant and the account balance is updated accordingly. The three basic procedures are easy to follow and can be completed in less than five minutes.

bet365 Football Betting Sign Up Offer

When you join Bet365, you’re entitled to claim their 100% Deposit Bonus. In short, this means that whatever your original deposit is (between £10 and £200), they’ll match it completely. If you make an initial deposit of £100, you’ll be given an extra £100.Here are the main Ts and Cs for the Bet365 Deposit Bonus:

You must spend all of your initial deposit before receiving the bonus amount

This one is very important! Before making a withdrawal, you must turn over your deposit plus your bonus, three times over. So if you made an initial deposit of £100, and received a bonus of £100, you’ll then need to place wagers equaling £600 before you can make a withdrawal

If you don’t turn over that amount within 90 days of signing up, the Deposit Bonus you received is void

In order for a bet to qualify towards the turnover, it must have odds of 1/2 or greater

If you bet multiple times on one market (a Real Madrid vs. Barcelona match, for example), only the first bet counts towards your turnover

Bets that are cashed out during play do not count towards the turnover

To be brutally honest, this is a pretty poor signup offer, especially compared to some of the other brands we’ve looked at. Just because you’re a big brand, and have plenty of customers already, doesn’t mean you should offer a sub-standard welcome offer. Plenty of other big brands offer far more competitive deals. Betway, for example, also offer a bonus that matches your first deposit, but with far more forgiving Ts & Cs. There are plenty of reasons to join Bet365, but their signup offer is nowhere near the top of the list.

The good thing about it – apart from the sheer amount of ‘free’ money on offer – is that the odds of your bets only need to be at least 1/2. This gives you a good chance to win a few safe bets on your way to claiming your bonus, and – eventually – withdrawing it.

bet365 Ongoing Football Promotions

Fortunately, after a pretty poor signup deal, Bet365’s offering does get better with their ongoing promotions.

Euro Soccer Bonus

This bonus is really an excellent one. Everybody loves a good accumulator, and this offer allows you to take your winnings to the next level. Place 3 or more teams into your acca, and if it comes off Bet365 will tack a bonus onto your winnings. The bonus increases in size based on how many teams you put in there: 3 teams gets you a 5% bonus, 4 teams gets you an extra 10%, and so on. This offer applies to a pleasingly wide range of big competitions: the group and knockout rounds of the Champions League, as well as the top divisions in England, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Bore Draw Money Back

Also worth noting is their Bore Draw Money Back offer. This fan-friendly deal gives some comfort to bettors after struggling through a boring 0-0 draw. If you’ve placed a Correct Score, Half-time/Full-Time or Scorecast (First Scorer + Correct Result) bet, and the game in question finishes 0-0, you get your full losing stake refunded to you.

bet365 Mobile Football Betting App

When it comes to their mobile app, Bet365’s extensive resources and expertise are clear. There’s no question that this is a top quality offering.

Much like the regular desktop version, the interface on Bet365’s mobile app is crisp, clean and intuitive; navigating it is extremely easy, even for beginners. There’s no drop-off in terms of usability, either. When using the mobile app, you have access to all your favourite features, including in-play betting and Cash Out. You even have access to live streams when you’re on the move; a feature that few other brands offer, even on their main websites. That’s seriously impressive.

In our testing of the app it ran quickly and extremely smoothly, with no crashes or other issues. A quick glance at Apple’s App Store reveals that most users have enjoyed a similarly reliable experience, with the app receiving an average rating of four stars.

Compared to its big rivals – particularly Ladbrokes, with their reliability issues – Bet365 betting app is very much at the front of the pack. This is true in terms of reliability, and innovation. Out of all the big football betting brands, we’re comfortable in saying this feature-packed app is the best we’ve tested.

bet365 Football Bets Explored

As befits a brand this big, with bet365 online betting you can gamble on pretty much any market you like. Domestic and international competitions from around the world are on offer, and live scores for all the ongoing matches are continually updated.

You also have an impressively wide range of things to bet on. All of your usual favourites are present and correct – accumulators, correct score, and so on – as well as a few more specialist wagers. These include:

Double Chance – a safer way to bet on the outcome of a match. Normally you can only bet on one of the three outcomes of a match: home team win, draw, or away team win. With Bet365’s Double Chance bet, you can wager on two of these results

Asian Handicap – the underdogs in a matchup effectively start with a ‘lead’ of a certain number of goals. The other team must overcome that deficit and win the match in order to win the bet. It’s a way to generate bigger odds while betting on the favourites, basically

The main bet365 Sports page displays an alphabetical list of all this operator’s betting sports. Other online bookmakers highlight the most popular betting sports and football is usually the most prominent but at bet365 customers must navigate to soccer through the menu. However, this does not detract from the excellent range of football leagues and markets that bet365 offer. On clicking Soccer users are taken to the main page for the sport and the biggest countries for football betting. The English Premier League generates the most betting turnover and only matches in the World Cup attract more bets and turnover. bet365 advertise heavily during the commercial breaks during matches in the EFL that are broadcast live.

Main Lists displays the main football betting matches of the day. bet365 has online customers all over the world but as a UK based operator the United Kingdom is the first country on the soccer page. bet365 offers odds on 22 leagues and competitions in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Matches in UEFA competitions and the other main European leagues appear next on the page followed by leagues in the rest of Europe and the rest of the world. In total bet365 covers more than 200 football leagues with pre-match betting. Few other bookmakers have a more comprehensive football betting service.

Due to the level of betting interest the English Premier League appears most prominently on the football page. For each match the kick-off time, home and away teams and 1X2 odds are shown with a link to over 150 related markets. Odds for these markets appear under the following headings:

Main

Asian Lines

Cards

Corners

Goals

Half

Player

Specials

Minutes

Bet Builder is a new feature for football matches. Customers can add markets from a long list to build a customised bet. The combined odds are displayed as each option is added. Bet Builder combines selections from any market and quotes the odds on offer. At any stage of the process the selected options can be added to the Bet Slip. The stake is specified and the bet is placed and confirmed in the normal way. Other operators offer customised betting but bet365’s Bet Builder incorporates more matches and markets. The bet365 football offer is one of the best on the market and Bet Builder is an enhancement. For football betting bet365 is one of the best bookies.

bet365 was one of the pioneers of in-play betting and they offer thousands of live betting events each week. An Overview displays the current events by sport and soccer appears first on this list. Customers can bet on about 70 in-play markets and create a customised live bet using Bet Builder. Attacks, dangerous attacks, possession and shots are displayed for each match and updated as the match progresses. Betting is suspended when there is a key event such as a goal, penalty, red card or significant injuries. Customers can request match alerts. The Cash Out facility allows in-play bettors to close a bet before expiry to guarantee a profit or limit the loss.

bet365 Other Sports Betting

Horse racing is the traditional UK betting sport but bet365 instigated massive growth in betting on other sports. Football accounts for more than half of all sports bets but there is plenty of interest in other sports. The bet365 alphabetical list shows over 30 main sports and several minor ones. The UK is the main target market but sports that are more popular in the rest of Europe are also featured in the sports menu. In the UK horse racing and tennis are only behind football in terms of the number of bets and turnover.

bet365 also covers the four US betting sports of ice hockey, baseball, basketball and American Football. The more continental betting sports include handball, volleyball, water polo, trotting and floorball. The Odds On coupon handpicks events in which there is a short priced favourite. Top Events displays the main betting events of the day and most involve football matches.

At the time of writing bet365 featured in-play events for the following sports:

Soccer

Tennis

Badminton

Baseball

Basketball

Cricket

Golf

and many minor sports.

An in-play schedule shows the current and upcoming in-play events in a composite list and by sport. After football the most live betting events are related to tennis. A typical in-play tennis match will feature up to 80 markets which are updated in running and some of which are available until the end of the match. The in-play schedule lists the live events over the next seven days.

bet365 Interface

The bet365 website is easy to navigate and a specific event can be reached through just a few clicks. The bet365 logo and branding is consistent throughout the site. In addition to Sports the bet365 interface has menu options for Casino, Live Casino, Games, Poker, Vegas and Bingo. The Home Page is well laid out and clear. The links to sports and events work effectively.

bet365 Banking and Payment Options

Customers with bet365 can choose from 14 payment methods, including debit and credit cards, e-Wallets and bank transfers. Each deposit method is free, all are instant except bank transfers which can take up to 10 banking days and minimum and maximum deposits range from £5 to £25,000. There are fewer withdrawal options but all are free with varying process times.

bet365 Customer Support

Customers can contact bet365 for support issues and queries using the following methods:

Live Chat

Email

Telephone

Post

The customer services department is open for 24 hours, 7 days a week. Other operators don’t offer an around the clock service but bet365 can be contacted at any time of the day or night. The site also features a comprehensive FAQ facility. bet365 is committed to responsible gambling and has banner links to several support organisations that offer help to problem gamblers. The site also features comprehensive betting news. Customers can follow bet365 on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Instagram and YouTube.

bet365 Company Details

As a brand, Bet365 certainly has a humble origin story. The company was actually formed in a shed in Stoke-on-Trent, back in 2000. In the years since then, it has come a hell of a long way.
One of the keys to Bet365’s success has undoubtedly been their commitment to staying at the cutting edge of the industry. They saw the direction in which betting was moving early, selling off all of their high street stores back in 2005 to focus solely on online gambling. Needless to say, it was the right decision. They’ve since grown into a behemoth of online betting, turning over a healthy £1.55billion in 2015.

bet365 Online Betting Summary

Let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first. Bet365’s signup deal is disappointing. The amount on offer – up to £200 – is impressive, but the stringent terms that are attached make it significantly less appealing.

If you can look past that, however, there’s a huge amount to like about the Bet365 betting experience. As the biggest name in British online football betting, you’re definitely in a safe pair of hands; Bet365 have a strong commitment to customer satisfaction, and this is visible across all of their services. They offer excellent variety in terms of ways to bet, their ongoing promotions are extremely good, and their mobile app must be recognized as one of, if not the best on offer right now.

New customers only, place a £10 bet on any Sportsbook market – min stake £10 at odds of at least 1.5 (1/2) — and we’ll give you £30 in free bets. Only deposits made using Cards or Paypal will qualify for this promotion. Free bets are valid for 30 days and must be used on a Sportsbook market. Free bets will be awarded after the qualifying bet has been settled. T&Cs apply. Paddy’s Rewards Club: Get a free £10 bet when you place 5x bets of £10+. T&Cs apply.

About The Author

Joe is a freelance writer and digital nomad, who splits his time between Asia and Europe. Wherever he’s based in the world, though, he can invariably be found in an Irish bar on a Saturday afternoon, watching the Premier League and complaining about his fantasy team.
Joe is a long-suffering Arsenal fan, who has recently contracted a serious case of Emery Fever.
In addition to his work for Football Betting Sites, Joe also runs his own website, Full 90 Football. Alongside regular Premier League betting tips, F90F also features Fantasy Premier League advice, and analytical articles on the beautiful game.
Outside of football, Joe writes content for a wide variety of clients and websites.